Petals of a Golden Flower
by UninterestingRory
Summary: Chara had lived a normal life, until one day they had fallen down into the strange land called the Underground. When found by Asriel, they had no idea what would become of their life, eventually leading to their death, and meeting 6 humans, before the seventh one changed the Underground forever. (Retelling- Minor differences and headcannons) (Icon by @Keycrash on Tumblr!)
1. Chapter 1 - The beginning

It was dark.

They couldn't see anything.

..

Because they closed their eyes.

Chara fluttered their eyes open as they noticed the dark area they were lying in, and the beautiful, golden flowers under their body. What had happened? Trying to remember everything, the child looked up, and noticed a hole. That must be it.

They had fallen down.

Trying to move, pain had shot through their arm and suddenly, they noticed their entire body aching, feeling as though they could do nothing but lie down, no one ever having to know of their death for days...

No. Not like this. Chara is not some weak-ass kid who dies when they fall down a _hole_. They needed to get help. Biting their lip and grunting a bit, they managed to get themselves in a comfortable position on their stomach, and took a few breaths before calling out for help.

After a while they started crying, as something, other than the echoes that they had made, was heard.

"It sounded like it came from over here.."

It was a soft voice, and it was unrecognizable. Not long after, was a strange creature- Only best described to be a walking goat, staring at Chara with wide, black eyes. Looking up to see it, they noticed that the creature looked like a young boy, with white fur, paws, and his expression seeming so worried.

"A-Are you ok?" He asked, quickly running over to aid the human. Chara sobbed again, but wiped their eyes with their sleeve, which was torn up and dirty from the fall. "Here, get up," The creature said, holding out his paw for them to take, which they did, and helped them get up, still aching and scraped.

Silence engulfed the room as Chara took a second to see if they could walk, until he spoke again. "My name's Asriel, what's yours?"

They blinked, then faced Asriel. He seemed nice enough. "I- I'm Chara.." They began, but was cut off by their furry friend.

"Chara? That's such a cool name!" The creature beamed. "I guess you're a bit confused, Chara. I'll take you to the castle, where my dad is!"

* * *

While it had taken them a while to finally get to Asriel's home, it was a good enough time to explain everything. Apparently Asriel and the kingdom were all monsters, which were trapped underground by the humans after a long war. Along the way, the monster had said nearly every detail that probably wasn't too important, and the Riverperson- A strange, cloaked being that liked to sing random words and let people ride on their boat to wherever they needed to go, had helped in parts that Asriel had forgotten, while they were riding to the 'Hotlands'.

Eventually, when they made it, Asriel turned to Chara with an excited look on his face.

"I wanna surprise Mom!" He laughed, looking a bit nervous, too. "Hide behind me, and then-"

But the young goat was cut off, by another goat, most likely his mother, with a concerned expression on her face.

"My child, who's this new friend you've made?" She asked, her voice sweet and, well, motherly. The human looked at Asriel, who is now very flustered and a bit disappointed that he couldn't even say his scheme.

"I'm, er, Chara, ma'am." They spoke out nervously, noticing Asriel opening his mouth to answer for them. The older monster smiled a little, and knelt down to look at Chara a bit better.

"Well hello there. I am Toriel Dreemurr, dear, the mother of Asriel. Are you hurt?" She asked, noticing the scrapes and cuts that started to heal, blood stains on their pants and shirt, and still some dirt from.. Wait, if the flowers broke their fall, why were they covered in dirt? Chara's expression clearly looked confused, as they were, but Toriel chose to ignore it. "If you don't mind, I'd like to heal you,"

With her large, white paw, she touched Chara's cheek, who was now focused on the mother, and the pain that they chose to ignore was lifted.

"Come, Chara, we shall take you inside to meet Asriel's father, and my husband, Asgore. I'm sure that we'd gladly take you as our own, if you'd like." Toriel smiled, standing up and starting to walk to the door of the house, which, for a royal family, seemed pretty normal. The human looked at Asriel, who was now very excited at the thought of having a sibling, and who had also joined his mother.

Chara's eyes lit up and they smiled, chuckling a bit. "Thank you, Mrs. Dreemurr," And they walked to the monster, who now was waiting for them, holding the door to the house wide open.


	2. Chapter 2 - Snail Pie

The family's house was very warm and comfortable, made of wood that was painted soft colors that had relaxed Chara very much. They had been living there for a few days but hadn't left to see the Hotlands or the Core yet, as the human needed time to adjust.

When they had met Asgore Dreemurr, he seemed very happy to see a human child and to have them in his family.

"You are the hopes and dreams of the Underground, Chara," They remembered him saying to them with his deep, kind voice, kneeling down and placing a paw on their head, and ruffling up their brown hair.

The larger monster had similar features that Toriel and Asriel, but was larger and more muscular, with broad shoulders. He had a golden beard and large horns, but besides looking intimidating, he was rather kind and friendly.

Because their other clothing was ripped and dirty, Toriel decided that Chara would now wear some of Asriel's clothes, which luckily they fit into, and because of Asriel's strange wardrobe, (Chara swore that everything in there was the exact same outfit, copied multiple times.) the two wore the same clothing every day- a green and yellow striped turtleneck with black pants and shoes.

After changing into the new clothes for the first time, Chara remembered looking into the mirror in the hallway. Their auburn hair falling into their crimson eyes, and behind their ears. They had never liked how they looked, but no matter how much they disliked themselves, they couldn't lie- They weren't unattractive. The opposite, even. They had thought of times on the surface, where adults would compliment them being "Handsome" or "Beautiful" despite their flaws.

Humans were strange.

* * *

When Chara and Asriel woke up, the room was dim and the faint smell of pie could be scented. Asriel's eyes lit up excitedly, and he quickly looked at Chara, grinning widely.

"What is it?" They asked, rubbing their eyes sleepily. It certainly didn't smell like their favourite, butterscotch cinnamon, but it did smell... Well, okay.

"Snail pie!"

Scratch that.

"..Snail pie? Really?" They asked, suddenly not very excited. But they were happy that Asriel was, and enjoyed watching him nearly vibrate with excitement. He was already on his feet and in the hallway by the time Chara got out of their bed, and then he sped to the kitchen once he saw his friend's face in the crack between the door and the frame. Finally, the child sat down at the wooden table with their family, smiling a bit and looking at the snail pie placed down in front of them, still warm.

They hesitantly tried a bit, and when they did, they regretted it.

"My child, what's wrong?" Toriel asked, sitting on her chair behind them. She'd been reading one of her books from her bookcase, and looked up to check on the two when she had seen a mixed face on Chara.

Dang it. They never wanted to ever say this to Toriel, their new mother, who had treated them to clothing and shelter, along with amazing food choices.

"I.. I'm not sure if I like snail pie that much, Mrs. Mom," They admitted, feeling guilty immediately after. Toriel simply smiled in response.

"That is ok, dear Chara. I'll remember not to serve you this, then." She understood. Thank the lord.

They passed the plate to Asriel, who had already finished his and was eyeing the pie, who exclaimed in thanks.

"You know, I don't get why you call Mom and Dad 'Mr.' and 'Mrs.', you can just call them... Well, Mom and Dad!" Asked the goat child, with pie still in his mouth. For an answer, they shrugged.

"I guess it's just polite or something. What, you want me to call them Mr. and Mrs. Dreemurr?" They joked, and their friend made a sour face.

"That's even worse, Chara!" He complained.

* * *

Toriel had explained to them that she was going to teach Asriel and Chara instead of going to a school. Since apparently Asriel is farther ahead than Chara, perhaps because he was taught by a better teacher than what they had been given in their public school they went to. This had caused Asriel to act smug whenever they were getting a lesson, and he even joked about it sometimes.

By the 5th week, Chara had fully caught up to Asriel, starting their lessons on the 2nd week and having lessons every other day, except on Saturday and Sunday. Once Toriel had decided that Chara was prepared to go to the core and Hotlands, she advised that Asriel had to stay with them at all times.

The first place that he wanted Chara to see was the Lab.

"Where are you taking me?" They laughed, blindfolded and being dragged around, even stumbling and falling to the ground every so often because Asriel couldn't manage to lead them without their clumsiness becoming a problem.

"You'll see!" Asriel said, for most likely the eighth time.

"Well hurry up! It's getting hot!" Chara complained, frowning and hoping that their friend looked back and took pity on them.

"I'm trying, but the elevator's in use!"

"Couldn't we just wait for the elevator to... Not be in use?"

".. Still," Asriel, while being the softie he was, could be pretty stubborn. Then again, Chara was really stubborn. "We're here!" He hummed, untying the blindfold for the human to face a strange, white and metal building with the word 'LAB' on it.

"A laboratory?" They asked, wiping their forehead because of the small amount of sweat they felt. Perhaps wearing a sweater in a place called the 'Hotlands' wasn't a good idea.

"We can't go in now, but Dad's going to let us meet Dr. Uh... I can't remember his name. It's been a while since I last saw him. Well, we're going to meet the doctor soon!" The goat seemed extremely excited about this, and Chara was too, but just a little. Perhaps the scientist could help them remember what happened right before they fell! Their memory was still foggy, and the human could only remember up until a little less than an hour before they woke up in the Underground. Maybe they had a concussion. Didn't feel like it, though..

Maybe the doctor could be their first friend, outside of the Dreemurrs and Asriel.


End file.
